What Normalcy Entails
by Sk8erGrl
Summary: When Brooke’s parents run out of money, her worst nightmare is coming home. What’s in store for the gang of One Tree Hill when the wild Colby Davis comes back to town?
1. Guess Who's Back

**What Normalcy Entails**

**Author:**Sk8erGrl1

**Summary:** When Brooke's parents run out of money, her worst nightmare is coming home. What's in store for the gang of One Tree Hill when the wild Colby Davis comes back to town?

**Disclaimer:** One Tree Hill and its character don't belong to me.

**Pairings:** Various pairings.

**Chapter One: Guess Who's Back**

Brooke Davis stepped into the Davis house, and dropped her bag to the floor of her bedroom. Heaving a sigh, she leaned against the wall beside the door and closed her eyes slightly. It had been a long day, in between pretending not to care and avoiding her issues. Stress like this definitely could not be good for her perfect complexion.

Standing up straight and tall again, she headed towards her bed. Pausing a seconds, she frowned, sure that she could hear the shower running in the bathroom. Neither of her parents could be home at this time, not in the middle of the day. "Mom? Dad?"

There was no answer, and Brooke suddenly began to feel herself grow worried. Rushing to her bedroom, she pulled open the door and marched onto the front lawn. She could see Felix pulling out of the driveway; it wasn't him then pulling another of his stunts. There was no way her parents had sold the house yet, not yet.

She was stuck; she didn't know where to go, or who to turn to. Some stranger was taking a shower in her house and Brooke didn't know whom she should go to for help. Peyton was busy with things for the club, and Nathan and Haley were probably out together. They'd been complaining about how little time they spend together lately, and Mouth had been acting odd since the night of the club opening.

Then, there was Lucas. Could she really go to him? They were supposed to be friends, but Brooke sometimes hesitated to talk to him, go to him when she needed something. Mostly because it hurt her to look at him and be reminded of what had happened. Her feeling towards him hadn't changed at all, she still loved him deeply and it hurt her so much. That was the sole reason she had finally agreed to the 'friends with benefits' deal with Felix.

Her choice was made up though; she couldn't just wait around until the intruder left the house. She knew exactly where she would find him at this time of day. At Karen's café where he'd been spending a lot of his after school time since Karen herself had gone back to school.

Walking into the café and seeing Lucas behind the counter, Brooke nearly walked right back out again. She'd heard that he'd been spending a lot of time with Felix's sister Anna from Haley the other day. Really, she didn't want to have to think of Lucas just being able to move on when she was still hung up on him. Brooke Davis was not one to fall in love and not want to let go.

"Brooke!" Lucas spotted her. He sounded pleasantly surprised, which put Brooke slightly at ease, "What're you doing here."

"There's someone in my house," she told him, she sounded more panicked than she realized, "And my parents would've told me if they had sold the house or something…"

"Let's go," Lucas announced, putting the apron down behind the counter.

"But…"

"Deb's here, she can take care of things," Lucas assured her, "this is more important." She hid a smile when he sad that, glad to know that she was still somewhat important to him.

They were back at her house within minutes, and by the time they reached the house the shower had stopped. Brooke bit her lip, feeling somewhat embarrassed that if the intruder was gone, Lucas might think that she had made it all up. Maybe just to get him back to her place.

"I swear someone was here!" Brooke exclaimed, looking around the bathroom. Things looked neat enough, but the windows were still slightly fogged and there lay a wet towel on the floor.

"I believe you," Lucas told her, and walked back out the bathroom. "Let's just check the rest of the house, just in case."

Brooke would've nodded had she not noticed an open door at the end of the hallway, a door that had not been open in nearly four years. Could it be that her parents had decided to venture into the room to find more stuff to sell? It was probable, but she had yet to see anything that lay hidden in the room for the past four years. Unless the occupant of that room had returned, which in her opinion, was more obvious.

Her suspicions were confirmed when a toweled, dark haired figure stepped out of the room, carrying some clothes in her arms. The girl stopped when she saw Brooke, but quickly turned her attention over to Lucas. "What, no welcome home Colby? Or is he my welcome back present?"

"What're you doing here?" Brooke demanded, not in the mood to explain the situation to the clueless Lucas at that moment. If anything could make things worse for her than they already were, it was the girl standing in front of her clad in nothing but a towel. Her younger, rebel sister Colby Davis.

"What do you think?" Colby asked, raising a brow, "Term's over and mommy and daddy dearest didn't pay tuition for the next term, what with the lack of money. So, guess who's going back to regular old school here in good old Tree Hill?"

"You," Brooke said flatly.

"Right you are," Colby grinned, "And I think this is going to be fun. Boarding school gets dull after a while."

"Brooke…" Lucas stepped forward so he was next to her then, and she glanced at him a second. She caught his eye and could see his curious look. She wanted to answer him, wanted to tell him what was going one but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Things were bad enough as it was.

"Unbelievable!" Brooke threw her hands up in the air and stormed out of the house. Colby watched Lucas curiously as he turned and watched Brooke leave. After a second, he himself followed.

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Lucas Scott sat in his mother's café trying to do his homework and keep the odd situation with Brooke off his mind. He hadn't been able to find her after leaving her house, and he still didn't quite understand what was going on. Before last year, he and Haley had been living in a life of their own along with the River Court guys. They didn't really keep in touch with the lives of the other Tree Hill residents.

As the door to the café opened, he turned his attention to the customer entering. Instead of just another customer though, his friend and somewhat of an ex-girlfriend Peyton Sawyer greeted him. Putting his pencil down, he decided that if he could get answers from anyone it would be the emo loving blonde, and Brooke's best friend. "Hey."

"Hey," Peyton greeted back, joining him at the counter, "Can I have one large latte to go?"

"Sure," Lucas nodded, getting the coffee ready for her, "Can I ask you a question though first?"

Peyton seemed to hesitate a second, giving him a curious look, before nodded, "Sure. Shoot."

"Who's Colby?" he questioned, and examined her response carefully. She seemed taken aback by the question.

"As in Colby Davis?" she asked, the surprise filling her tone.

"Well, she was at Brooke's house," Lucas nodded, not caring to explain what he was doing at Brooke's. Although, by the look on Peyton's face, he probably should explained. It was too late though because Peyton already began to explain. "Who is she?"

"She's Brooke's little sister," this news surprised Lucas, but Peyton didn't wait for it to sink in for him before continuing, "She doesn't like to talk about her much. Colby's a badass. Four years ago, her parents sent her away to boarding school because they just couldn't deal anymore. They didn't want Brooke to be around her either. Colby used to torment Brooke when we were young. She'd tear the heads off of her dolls and cut their hair and stuff.

"Guess she's home because money ran out." Peyton shook her head, "Brooke's not going to be taking this well. Her and Colby never got along, never."

"I don't know where she went Peyton, after she ran out…" Lucas trailed off. Before he could finish his sentence Peyton had taken her latte and dropped the money on the counter.

"Keep the change!" She shouted over her shoulder as the door shut behind her.

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Peyton hoisted herself up into the ancient, elaborate tree house that she hadn't seen for years. This was the place she knew Brooke Davis could be found. When it came to Colby, there was only one place she was ever able to hide. The tree house, which Brooke's father had hired someone to build for her one year when she was a kid, a place Colby was never let in on the location of.

"Hey Princess Brooke," Peyton offered a smile to her best friend, who sat in the corner on the small wooden chair with a light pink cushion on top. Brooke's hair was tied back in a messy ponytail and she looked sad, and somewhat angry.

"You remembered," her best friend seemed slightly surprised to find that Peyton still remembered the place they had ran away to so many nights when they were kids. They had tea parties, their first boys over, had gotten drunk for the first time in this small house. Rumor had it that Brooke had lost her virginity there, and Peyton knew that she had once brought Nathan around and had fooled around with him. It marked a lot of things in their life.

"Of course," Peyton went over to sit in "her" chair, that sat right were she had left it when she and Brooke had been there, together, for the last time.

"I can't believe she's back," Brooke mumbled, "I hate that she's back."

"Maybe she's changed," the blonde offered, and Brooke gave Peyton a skeptical look.

"Colby Davis will never change," she announced.

"Then Tree Hill is in a load of trouble," Peyton sighed. If Colby was a nightmare at eleven and twelve, she could only be worse at sixteen. Shuddering slightly, Peyton remembered the incident with the fire and the burning down of a wing of Tree Hill Elementary that had ultimately gotten Colby shipped off to boarding school. "A whole lot of trouble."


	2. Sisterly Issues

**What Normalcy Entails**

**Author's Note:** Thank you all for the reviews, they were all well received and I'm so happy that you're all enjoying the story so far. I have some things planned ahead, and I hope that you'll continue reading and reviewing to give me your opinion.

**Chapter Two: Sisterly Issues**

_The flames licked the wooden walls, and she could feel the world crumbling away as she sat curled up in the corner of the tree house. The scorching heat burned her cheeks, and she could see the flames fast approaching her. _

_In the distance, there was cackling, laughing, as if someone was pleased with Brooke's predicament. Her death right in front of her, coming to get her in the forms of bright orange and red flames. The laugh was so familiar, the laugh of her sister. _

_Turning quickly, she looked out the window and tried to pry it open, but the tree was in flames too. Everything around her was on fire, and down below she could see a dark headed figure in a black hoodie laughing, and watching everything from below. A lit match in hand, her baby sister, her worst nightmare, threw yet another match to the base of the tree. _

__Brooke bolted awake. The vision of her beloved tree house burning to the ground with her in it was seared in her brain. One of her most prized possessions, the one that she was sure could never be sold in the midst of this final crisis. It was safe, forgotten by her father after he paid the last payment to the worker.

The crackling of the wood was still clear in her mind, and Brooke sat up quickly in bed and looked around her room. It wasn't the noise from her dream; it was something else, something in her very room. Her gaze shifted to her dollhouse, the dollhouse Mouth had bought back for her, and saw three lit sparklers standing on top.

Angry, Brooke got out of her bed quickly and picked up all three sparklers. Storming into the kitchen she dropped them into the sink and took a deep breath. Colby had been back not even twenty-four hours and already she was bent on making Brooke's life hell again. There was no way she was going to get away with it, not in this lifetime.

Colby was nowhere in sight all morning, and Brooke knew that she was likely to have to start school that morning. Well, it wasn't Brooke's problem nonetheless and she wasn't going to take it upon herself to make sure that her sister was up and ready for school.

In an hour she was ready, and dressed for school. A plan on how to deal with Colby already formulating in her head, and for once Brooke still felt confidant where her sister was involved. She wasn't going to let Colby change who she was, who she is: Brooke Davis, cool, confident and sexy. If her situation with Lucas hadn't changed that, there was no way this would.

Sitting in her car, she started it and just as she shifted into drive, the passenger's door opened and Colby slid in. Her dark hair, that was longer and darker than Brooke's own, was tied back into a ponytail, her army pants rested on her hips, and she had a black t-shirt advertising Green Day. "Mom and Dad are gone already, left early this morning," Colby mentioned, not like Brooke didn't already know, "Mom left a note. Said you have to drive me to school."

"Great," Brooke mumbled.

"Hey, don't think I'm happy about it," Colby rolled her eyes, and slid down in her seat, "Driving into school with you, it'll seriously ruin any chances of building up the rep I want." She paused and glanced at Brooke, "And not as the slutty cheerleader who'll sleep with any guy as long as they're hot."

"Whatever," Brooke muttered, and pulled out of the driveway heading towards school and to what was likely going to be one of the worst days of the school year yet.

Colby reached over and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, taking one out and fumbling for her lighter. Frowning, Brooke reached out and grabbed the cigarette from her sister's mouth, throwing it out the window. "Rule number one, you don't smoke in my car."

"What, afraid it's going to ruin the nice leather interior?" Colby grumbled, shoving the cigarette back into her bag, "Drop me off a block from school. I need a smoke."

"Fine," Brooke pulled over, "Smoke away, and walk the whole way to school. You think I give a damn about you, or what mommy dearest tells me to do?"

"What, and you think I do?" Colby raised a brow, stepping out of the car, "Think again. I'm only here because they can't afford to keep me in Switzerland at the boring, preppy boarding school anymore."

"Fine, then let's make a deal," Brooke leaned over slightly, looking Colby straight in the eyes, "You stay the hell out of my life, and I'll do the same for you."

"How considerate," Colby said sarcastically, sticking a cigarette into her mouth. Once it was lit she took a long drag and let the smoke out in Brooke's direction, "How about I save you the painstaking time of wondering if I'll accept and tell you right now there's not a chance in hell. What fun would Tree Hill be if I couldn't meddle with your life big sister."

Frowning, and waving the smoke out of her face Brooke pressed the gas as soon as the passenger's door was closed and took off towards the school. If it was war Colby Davis was looking for, it was war she was going to get.

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Haley turned around as she heard Brooke slam her locker door, the sound resounding through the busy halls of Tree Hill High. Glancing at Nathan, who shrugged his response, she walked over to Brooke. "Hey."

"Oh, hey Tutor Girl," Brooke greeted, using her old nickname for Haley for the first time in a while.

"Is everything all right Brooke?" Haley questioned, concerned for her friend. She knew that things hadn't been going well for Brooke lately. What with her parents declaring bankruptcy, and her having to give up the life of riches for a normal, or some semblance of a normal life.

"Just fine," Brooke nodded evasively. She knew that if Haley was able to see through her guise, then she was doomed when it came to hiding stuff from Peyton, and even Lucas. Peyton knew Brooke better than anyone else, and Brooke had slowly been letting Lucas into her life before her stabbed her in the back by cheating on her with Peyton.

Turning to head towards her first class, Haley followed, Nathan joining them and wrapping his arms around his wife's waist. Neither of them was convinced by Brooke's false bravado. She wasn't about to relent, no by giving in was as if handing Colby victory, and Brooke wasn't going to give her that satisfaction.

She put on her straight, no bull shit face when Felix passed by, giving her his cocky look that she hated so much. Why she even bothered associating with him was beyond her, but she knew that if anything she was going to be taking 'advantage' of their deal more often with Colby back in town.

"Brooke!" she stopped when she heard Lucas call out to her, Haley and Nathan turned to see the tall blonde approached them at a jog. He looked damn good that morning, she had to give him that much. In his jeans and black button down shirt.

"Yes?" after a moment, she turned as well, plastering on a fake 'Brooke' smile. Seductive, sexy, confidant, everything she didn't feel at that moment, everything she had a hard time feeling when Lucas was in close proximity.

"Is everything o-" but Brooke cut him off before he could finish.

"Okay? Of course," she flipped her hair over her shoulders.

"You sure? Because Peyton told me about who that girl was," Lucas mentioned, "And why you ran out like you did."

"Girl?" Nathan raised a brow, Haley looked equally confused, "What girl?"

"Just good old Colby making a re-appearance in Tree Hill," Brooke shrugged, knowing very well that Nathan knew her sister and her sister's reputation.

"Colby? Your bad ass sister who burned down that wing of Tree Hill Elementary?" Nathan was shell-shocked.

"That was your sister!" Haley exclaimed.

"Her reputation precedes her," Peyton laughed lightly, joining the group, "Speaking of, I saw mini-Davis walking towards the campus driving in. Kicked her out of the car."

"She was going to smoke!" Brooke exclaimed, "And she's a big girl, doesn't need me driving her around."

"I can't believe she's back," Nathan shook his head, "Man, you and Peyton really hated her. I remember this one time…"

"No need to go reliving the days of Colby torture with us Nate," Peyton patted him on the chest, "Brooke and I remember all to well what happened, and I'm sure that I speak for both of us when I say we'd rather any story you are about to tell stay buried in the past."

"Hey, I think I speak for both Lucas and I when I say we'd like to hear about this infamous Colby Davis a little more!"

Nathan, Brooke, and Peyton shared a look. They knew countless stories of the wreckage that was Colby Davis. Each one of them also knew that if Colby Davis was the same girl who got sent to boarding school four years ago, and there was no doubt in any of their mind that she was, Lucas and Haley would be learning more than they ever would want to know about her in no time.

"You'll fine out soon enough," Nathan assured his wife and brother, "Trust me on that one."

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Colby stood at the end of the hall, heading towards the principal's office she had stopped when she caught sight of her sister, the hot blonde guy from the house the day before, Peyton, the ever-delicious Nathan Scott with his arm around some girl who was not the curly haired blonde. It was off how much had seemed to change in the four years since she had been sent away. Her sister was different in a way, she couldn't put her finger on it, and Nathan and Peyton seemed more different than she ever imagined they would be.

If there was one thing Colby knew, was that even at a distance their perfect little world had cracks in it. There were secrets that lay beneath the surface, and all she had to do was scratch at it to drag them out. Colby enjoyed messing with her sister and her friends. While Brooke had used money as a way of dealing with her parent's lack of attention towards their children, she had always tried to win their attention by causing trouble. All she even wanted was for them to stop focusing on their work, their own little world and for once notice they had two daughters. The only thing she had accomplished was gaining their attention long enough for them to send her away. That had lasted until their little money problem, and now she was going to make up for lost time.

At boarding school, she had been bored. Being around a bunch of badass girls all the time, in a place where people knew better than to leave them to their own devices was not her ideal place to be. There had been a no smoking rule, not that anyone obeyed it, and so many others. Enough rules to drive a rich girl who was on her own all the time insane. Now, being back in Tree Hill she was going to make sure that she had all the fun she could manage.

With her family broke, her sister having to deal with having no money to spend anymore this was the perfect opportunity to mess around with the lives of everyone around her. She loved causing trouble. After all, what girl who burnt down a wing of their elementary school didn't? People had described her as a bad girl, she'd heard people say she was 'misunderstood' and 'lacked the love and attention she needed to turn out right', and she knew that in some way they were right. She had always strived for her parent's attention and love, but now she knew she could never have that. So, she'd stick with doing what she did best: causing trouble, and tormenting Brooke.

"Colby Davis, right?" she turned to see a boy, around her height standing there. He was cute, in a dorky kind of way, and not at all Colby's kind of guy. If anything, he was the little brother type, always trying to get the girl, but too friendly and nice to. Average nerd, and of course, she knew he was her tour guide of Tree Hill High.

"That's me," she nodded, turning her back completely on Brooke and her friends.

"Well, I'm Mouth," he held out his hand, and she shook it lazily, chewing on some gum while her other hand sat in her pocket. "Welcome to Tree Hill High."

"Great to be here," she drawled sarcastically.

"Are you related to Brooke," she saw him glance in the direction of her sister and smirked, so this Mouth guy had a crush on Brooke. She could work with that.

"She's my sister," she nodded, "Tell anyone else and I'll deny as will she." Mouth gave her a curious look then, and she shrugged, "Let's just say we don't see eye to eye on anything. We're total opposites, and well, there's a mutual feeling of hate. So, you going to show me 'round the place so I can see which wing I'd like to burn first." She had a glimmer of mischief in her eye, and she could see that Mouth was kind of nervous.

"Sure," he nodded, and offered her a friendly smile. Colby wasn't planning on befriending the poor, unfortunate Mouth, so she didn't return his smile. He'd be useful for information though, so she wasn't going to ditch him just yet. "You've got to get your schedule at the office first, if you get it already."

"Well, how could I when I don't know my way 'round the place Mouth?" she questioned, "Lead the way."

"Oh. Right." Mouth led her down the hall, and Colby waited until they were well enough away from the group, to begin to gather information to formulate a plan.

"So, what's up with Nathan Scott and that girl, last time I was here him and Peyton were together," she said casually, "The way those two were at thirteen, they were probably going to end up in a miserable, sex-based marriage."

"Oh, that girl is Haley James," Mouth said, "They're married."

"Nathan Scott is married?" Colby couldn't help but revel her surprised, "What the hell is wrong with the world! He knocked her up then?"

"No, they're in love," Mouth said, stopping in front of the office.

"Huh," Colby shook her head, "Well, well, things are going to be a lot more fun here than I thought." A small smirked appeared, and she got her schedule from the office, all the while thinking about getting more information from Mouth. If everything else was as interesting, or screwed up as Nathan Scott being in love and married she was going to have fun messing with their lives. More fun that she could ever have imagined.


End file.
